The week began with Pete Rose’s confession that he gambled on baseball games, but yesterday two of the Hit King’s contemporaries, Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley, gained admission to the Hall of Fame.
With their first-ballot elections, Molitor and Eckersley partially lifted the stigma that’s heretofore been affixed to designated hitters and closers in Cooperstown.
“It’s a great relief and a great honor,” Molitor said by phone from Minneapolis. “I was never a person who played with the grandeur of Hall of Fame expectations.”
“It’s the most overwhelming experience I’ve felt in my life,” Eckersley said from Boston. “Unbelievable.”
After spending about half his 21-year career as a DH in Milwaukee, Toronto and Minnesota, Molitor was named on 431 of 506 ballots (85.2 percent). He was a career .306 hitter with 3,309 hits, placing him eighth on the all-time list.
Molitor’s early career was sidetracked by rampant injuries, which led to his eventual status as a full-time DH. He’s the first DH to be elected.
“I wasn’t overly concerned with the DH factor,” he said. “I’m fully aware that some people might have [refused to] cast the vote and made a stand for tradition.”
Eckersley won 151 games as a starter in Cleveland, Boston and Chicago before reinventing himself in Oakland as the most dominant one-inning closer in baseball history. He’s third on the career saves list with 390, and he was named on 421 ballots (83.2 percent).
“I think my whole career has been timing,” Eckersley said. “It’s all about timing; you get the opportunity, you make the most of it. I made the most of it.”
The bad timing of Rose’s long-overdue confession was “a little disappointing,” Molitor said.
“I’m sure Pete has his reasons for selecting the opening of his book,” Molitor said. “Does it take away from the current class? In my mind it does a little bit . . .
“Pete’s trying to maximize his opportunities.”
Molitor, 47, the 1993 World Series MVP with Toronto, follows Robin Yount as the second Brewer to reach Cooperstown. Eckersley, 49, won the 1992 AL MVP and Cy Young and is the third reliever to be elected, following Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers.
Ryne Sandberg, Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice and Andre Dawson missed out again.
2004 Hall of Fame Voting
506 votes cast; 380 needed; x-elected
x-Paul Molitor 431
x-Dennis Eckersley 421
Ryne Sandberg 309
Bruce Sutter 301
Jim Rice 276
Andre Dawson 253
Rich Gossage 206
Lee Smith 185
Bert Blyleven 179
Jack Morris 133
Steve Garvey 123
Tommy John 111
Alan Trammell 70
Don Mattingly 65
Dave Concepcion 57
Dave Parker 53
Dale Murphy 43
Keith Hernandez 22
Joe Carter 19
Fernando Valenzuela 19
Dennis Martinez 16
Dave Stieb 7
Jim Eisenreich 3
Jimmy Key 3
Doug Drabek 2
Kevin Mitchell 2
Juan Samuel 2
Cecil Fielder 1
Randy Myers 1
Terry Pendleton 1
Danny Darwin 0
Bob Tewskbury 0
By receiving fewer than 26 votes (less than 5 percent), Hernandez, Carter, Valenzuela, Martinez, Stieb, Eisenreich, Key, Drabek, Mitchell, Samuel, Fielder, Myers, Pendleton, Darwin and Tewskbury are no longer eligible for election by the BBWAA.
